Craig Ritche of McGill Rose Garden and Charlotte Greens
Earnest Littlejohn Garden
Justin Orders of Queens Order Honey
Solar Panel house at Wild Hope Farm
Wild Hope Farm
The Bulb Gallery
Jack Abernathy of Abernathy Family Farm
Wise Acres Organic Farm
Seven Sisters Farm
Taylor Family Farm
Rickie Parker Garden
Mecklenburg County Community Garden at Winterfield Elementary School
Brett Tempest of Gather Ye Honey
Geoge McAllister of Mecklenburg Beekeeper Association
Charlotte Green in the Wilmore Neighborhood
Cherie Jzar of Deep Roots Farm
Cherry Hill Farm
Old Burke County Pig Pen and Smokehouse at British Family Farm
The Queen’s Garden: Oral Histories of the Piedmont Foodshed seeks to collect the stories of those who grow, cultivate, produce, and distribute fresh food in the greater Charlotte region.
A lot of changes have happened to our foodshed over the past half-century. Growing urbanization and an active farm-to-fork movement have created new demands, while encroaching sprawl and rising land costs have led to new innovations like agrotourism, urban farming, and growing microgreens. This oral history project explores both the rewards and challenges of those who currently and historically have participated in and helped to create the region’s foodshed. By documenting the oral histories of farmers, gardeners, ranchers, gleaners, and other distribution efforts, we hope to portray the sometimes unexpected and creative ways that local food production and distribution has occurred and changed over time.